Mean Boy | Billy Hargrove

4 - Dangerous

Ever since that day, Amber had decided that the pool was her favorite place in Hawkins. She'd much rather spend her time swimming back and forth there instead of having to listen to her aunt's blabbering at home. She'd go to the pool almost every day an hour after lunch until late at night—since he knew Henry, the manager of the Hawkins Pool so well now, he lets her stay until after hours. She'd tire herself with so much swimming that she didn't need her meds anymore to fall asleep. It was a rather ideal life, you can say.

That fine morning, Amber stepped out of the house exactly an hour after lunch. She had just mounted her bike when a red BMW stopped in front of the lawn—she recognized it as Steve's car. They've been exchanging hellos and goodbyes every time they passed each other. Steve stepped out of his car and approached Amber, ruffling his thick brown hair.

"Hey," he said, "Where are you going?"

"The pool, like usual. Why?"

"Want a ride? I have to go somewhere too," he muttered, casually gesturing at his car.

Amber stopped to think for a second and finally raised her shoulders. "Sure, why not."

She stepped off of her bike and followed Steve into his car. The inside of his car was unexpectedly super clean. It smells kinda like hairspray which Amber's mom uses, but she chose not to say anything. Soon they were cruising the streets of Hawkins, accompanied by pop songs playing from the radio.

"So, where are you headed?" Amber chose to break the silence.

"I have a—uh—job interview."

It sounded almost like Steve was embarrassed about it, but that didn't stop Amber from feeling curious.

"Wow—that's great! Where is it?"

The guy let out a long sigh before murmuring, "Starcourt Mall. There will be an ice cream shop there soon, and they need employees—so," he ruffled his hair again, refusing to look at Amber in shame.

Amber chuckled lightly. "Seriously, what are you not feeling confident about? Malls—great. Ice cream—greater. I think scooping ice cream is an important job, Steve!" She managed to work up a smile on Steve's face. "Come on, I'm certain you'll get that job and I'm also certain that the job will be fun. Doesn't unlimited ice cream sound amazing to you?"

"Yeah," Steve finally smirked. "I guess I was just bummed out. My friends are all gone to college, and I'm stuck here in this shitty town."

"You'll get there in your own time," the girl tried comforting him with a warm smile.

Since Hawkins was a small town, they didn't even need half an hour to get to the pool. Steve stopped his car near the entrance as Amber released the safety belt and prepared to get off of the car. Just as she was opening the car door, Steve called her name.

"You wanna hang out later?"

She turned around to face him and nodded.

"I'll pick you up later at 5?"

"Yeah. Thanks for the ride, Steve." She waved goodbye to him and they exchanged smiles before he drove off. Surprisingly, just a few seconds into the road he passed by a familiar car, going into the pool's parking lot.

The blue Camaro's tires screeched loudly as the driver almost ran into Amber. She jumped onto the curb just a split second before the bumper hit her leg. "Good God!" she shouted.

She stared at the guy in the driver's seat, but she couldn't see the person clearly. She groaned silently and walked into the building, and found Henry on his usual place behind the counter, reading a magazine.